Minneapolis, Minn.-- The North Central University Baseball team played a triple header against the University of Minnesota- Morris on Friday at Knights Field in Northfield, Minn.

The Rams (0-18, 0-11) dropped all three games to the Cougars (Morris, Minn.) but battled one of the conferences top teams closely in two of the contests.

In game one, North Central trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fourth before Morris (12-9, 7-2) scored three runs off of freshman pitcher Matt Treadwell (Dickinson, Texas/ Bay Area). Treadwell had to work around five Rams errors but put up a solid stat line of three earned runs in six innings on only seven hits while allowing no walks. The Rams offense was led by sophomore Cody Van Sickle (Machesney Park, Ill./ Harlem Sr) who went 1-for-3 with a triple. North Central dropped game one, 6-0.

In game two, the Cougars took advantage of eight North Central errors as they won the contest 11-1. Van Sickle pitched six innings allowing 11 runs (6 earned) on eight hits while walking two. The Rams lone run came in the fifth inning when freshman Matthew Juve (Blaine, Minn./ Spring Lake Park) scored on a muffed throw by the second baseman after junior David Babcock (Fresno, Calif./ Buchanan) stole second base. Juve reached base on a one out double to left center and advanced to third on a fielding error by the shortstop during Babock's at-bat.

In game three, the Rams put on a much better defensive display as the team only commited one error in the ball game. North Central kept the game close throughout but could not bring a runner across the plate against Morris pitcher Joey Hyde, dropping the game 3-0. The Rams were led offensively by freshman first baseman Taylor Madrinich (West Bend, Wis./ West Bend West) who went 2-for-3 in the loss. Treadwell had another solid outing on the mound as he allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings while striking out three. He also continued his impressive control by not allowing any Cougar hitters to reach base via an error.

North Central Baseball continues play on Tuesday as they take the road to Martin Luther College (New Ulm, Minn.) for a triple-header beginning at 10a.m.